hello, good-bye--the carseat is upgraded

Wednesday night before coming home from GF, we bought Finn a 'big boy' car seat. Since Finn still hates his 'baby' car seat, we decided to install the new one right away so that we could try it out on the way home...just to see if Finn traveled any better. Well, there we were in the parking lot of Wal-Mart...Matthew installing the 'big boy' car seat and me crying as I put the 'baby' car seat in the trunk. I was so upset that he didn't fit in his baby one anymore. I dried my tears though before Matthew could see...he wouldn't understand, although he may have been a little sad too...and we got in the car to go home. As soon as we started down the road, Matthew turned to me and asked, "You're not going to cry, are you?" in that kind of voice that says, "I don't want 2 crying babies the whole way home". I sucked it up and we made it home with Finn serenading us with his crying...he didn't like the 'big boy' car seat any better. At least with the 'baby' car seat he was turned the other way. Now the crying is directed right into our ears. =)

Good-bye 'baby' car seat. You've served us well, although Finn may not agree. I remember how tiny Finn looked in you when we brought him home from the hospital. Hard to believe that was 11 months ago today. =(


Hello 'big boy' car seat! You take up half of the back seat, but I'm sure you will serve us well too. I don't know why a baby needs two movable arm rests and two cup holders, but okay...and don't let the smile fool you, he knew he was getting out soon.


But wait!!! Last night I had the 'baby' car seat out cleaning it up getting ready to put it away and guess who just HAD to sit in it again! That's right, he whined and complained and pitched a horrible fit until I let him crawl in it...and then I HAD to buckle him in. After 11 months of crying in this car seat, he ends the nightmare of traveling in it with a smile.



Here is the video of Finn saying "jet".

blogspot problems

I found the problem with blogspot. If you have a blog and are having trouble getting it to open, remove your sitemeter. That fixed the problem instantly. I will no longer be able to see how many people are visiting my site, but I didn't use it anyway. Hope this helps someone.

talking

Finn and I were just reading a book about things that fly. It was a pop-up book so, of course, he was more interested in it than others. The last page has a jet on it. When I said the word "jet" he immediately said "jet" perfectly. I wasn't even trying to get him to say it, I was just telling him what it was a picture of. It may just be the proud mother in me saying this, but I'm amazed that he is so interested in learning and pronouncing new words. Here is a list of words that he can say so far. Mama, Dada, please, juice, yes, truck, tractor (he now says this out loud), duck and I guess jet now. He will also bark like a dog, moo like a cow, meow like a cat and say "bubububu" for a fish (a sound for bubbles. I didn't know what other sound to make for a fish).

On Wednesday we went to the lake with about 50 kids from the youth group. Matthew took Finn in the lake and he loved it.


He would jump up and down trying to get into the lake faster.


This is about as deep as he would go.

He crawled around in the sand and tried to eat a little. He wasn't impressed with the texture.

Our little family at the lake.

Running around the house with his walker.

Matthew and Finn in the lake.

I think he's ready to start using forks and spoons. As long as I put the food on there, he wanted to use the fork. I even put little crackers on his tray and he tried to put them on the fork to eat them.

The first video of Finn walking.

"tacta"

We've been working with Finn on a few words recently. One is his name, the second is "stuck" and the third is "tractor". Since he loves tractors we thought he'd have this one down by now, but yesterday for the first time he said it...or whispered it. It came out like "tacta" in a very soft whisper. He won't say it out loud which makes it impossible to video but it's definitely an attempt at tractor.

We've also been working on kisses. For awhile now, a kiss would be sucking on the side of someone's face or even a little bite, but we've been trying to show him that he doesn't have suck on someone to give a kiss. We're not quite there yet. He now aims for the ear instead of the cheek and he blows. Maybe he gets more of a reaction from this. So, when he gets ready to give kisses I get ready for a hot breath of air blown into my ear. He doesn't like to give Matthew kisses though because his cheek is so rough. =)

Some bad bedhead the other morning. I thought it was so cute though that I had to take pictures. Now tell me that this little boy doesn't need a haircut. =)





These next few pictures and videos were taken at the church when we went to pick Matthew up after his mission's trip. It was a huge success and the kids really got the message of the week. Finn found a balloon in Matthew's office and he tried to catch that thing for the next 30 minutes.


In the nursery with tons of 'new' toys to play with.



Figuring out how to make the music start with this toy. When he figures this out on a new toy you will only hear the first note or two of the song because he keeps pressing it.

the haircut

Okay, take a deep breath and calm down. I didn't do it...yet. I've been getting a lot of...shall we say...feedback about me cutting Finn's hair for the first time. I know it's supposed to be a big milestone and all, but I would rather him look like a sharp little boy than walk around (which by the way won't be too long) with wings, curls and waves. If he were a girl, I would most likely leave it for awhile longer, but since he's not I must push forward with it and get that hair under control. I promise you'll like his new buzz cut!

i'm the water boy

Finn has gotten really good at saying please for food or his juice. He has trouble asking for help with anything else, but if it's food he has no problem asking nicely. Tonight Finn and I were in the backyard playing. He was walking around with his Tonka truck and I sitting on the sidewalk watching him. He saw me take a drink from my water bottle and said "please?" sweetly and pointed to me. So, I got up and let him take a drink. He thought it was hilarious that he barely kept any of it in his mouth and drooled the rest out onto his shirt and shorts. I gave him water until he pushed the bottle away. I sat back down. He went a few more steps with the truck and then pointed to me and said "please?" How could I resist? I got up again and let him drink from my water bottle until he pushed it away. I thought for sure this time he wasn't going to want anymore. I sat back down. He took a few more steps and then stopped, pointed and said, "please?" By this time, I knew I was just going to be the water boy for the evening. It must be hard work pushing the Tonka truck around. I learned my lesson and just walked behind him the rest of the evening and he drank (drooled) all of my water. Does he have me trained or what?

Here is my little climber. He was trying to make the switch from his walking toy to the stool without actually having to get off of either.


It didn't work. He ended up almost falling off. Mommy to the rescue!


In the pool today. Okay, I realize he probably shouldn't be swimming while fully dressed, but the sun was so strong today I just couldn't take his shirt off and risk getting that tender, baby skin burned. His arms and legs were shiny with 3 layers of sun screen.


Watching the neighbor kids playing in their pool...their much bigger pool.


The wave and curls. See, it's time to cut it!!!


The front? Not so long. I still say he has Grandpa Morken's hairline....or the lack thereof. =)


More of the long hair. Sometimes, it hangs over his collar and most of the time the sides are over his ears.


Finn likes to dance and clap to his jumperoo. It's not set up but sometimes he will try to climb in. Other times, if Matthew or I are on the floor with him, he will hold onto us and jump like he used to with the music.

Finn climbing again. This was taken right before he went to bed so he was very tired. He kept trying to climb onto the top of his walker toy, but he couldn't figure out how to do it...thankfully. He ended up getting frustrated and upset. Nothing else really to say about this video. He started pitching a fit, so I turned the camera off. No need for EVERYONE to see that. =)

more chicken dance

Here is another video of the chicken dance. Josh is making the duck dance toward Finn and he loves it.